


Thousand Dreams of You

by backtrack95



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Character Study, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, but i cant properly tag her wahh, callie is my nora/female sole survivor in another file
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 07:11:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6145704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/backtrack95/pseuds/backtrack95
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The soft, familiar warmth of her hand touched his cheek and he slightly leaned his head into it by habit. “I promise.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thousand Dreams of You

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of a lil' prologue to a series I'm working on revolving around Jack and R.J. ♥  
> So stay tuned folks!!!!

For a world that was on the brim of ending, Jack found that the moment he was currently stealing outside of his home in their little neighborhood of Sanctuary to be ironically peaceful. Life moved on naturally as humans always held the ability to adapt to the frightening reality of world war hanging over their heads all the while continuing their everyday routines: taking their children to school, working and buying groceries for the week. Even with the riots, extreme lack of resources, the never-ending loss of life between the conflicts of America and China and even with all the consistent propaganda of _‘total atomic annihilation’_ , Jack too had learned to adapt. Having served and fought in the battles that led humanity to the very point of splitting in two, he probably understood better than anyone around him the gravity of the earth’s situation. Jack was a veteran, but he wasn’t a hero. At least not in his eyes. As long as the planet could still be destroyed, he only felt like he could have done so much more.

 _‘War never changes…’_ he thought and painfully remembered in the sanctity of his mind.

A crisp, autumn breeze brushed through his freshly washed warm black hair and the light scars on his skin. The sunlight contrasted with the chill and beat down on the troubled, but happy gentlemen. Standing in the rays he was shown to be licked with a soft tan, his army days not too far behind him. It showed in his eyes and his dreams. The only solace he could find was in his family. His fierce little wife, Callie and their son, Shaun. He was afraid for them more than the entire world. Maybe it was selfish, but he had done all he could to stop the inevitable. Now all he had to think about was them. They were his life and knowing they still lived and breathed another day with him under the roof of their home was what helped him stay asleep during the nights when the dying screams of his fellow soldiers haunted him most. Callie would always snake her arms around his trembling body and press her own gently to his back. She’d soothingly wipe away the cold sweat from his forehead and sing to him softly until he relaxed and fell back into a long sleep.

“Lost in thought big guy?” Jack turned to meet the light gray gaze of his beautiful wife as she held their newborn son in the safety of her golden arms. He cast her a smirk and closed the distance between them, carefully placing his hands on her hips to ensure he didn’t disturb their sleepy boy. 

“Lost in thought about you.”  
“Jack… we’re going to be okay.”  
“Are you sure?”

The soft, familiar warmth of her hand touched his cheek and he slightly leaned his head into it by habit. “I promise.” Jack took her lovingly by the nape of her neck to lean in for a kiss, but as soon as he did he felt the bright blast and an unnatural heat overcome them. She slipped from his grasp and he saw the ice creep up their legs and through their veins. Suddenly Callie and Shaun were very far away from him. The frost enclosed the three of them quickly and Jack had enough time to scream, _“NO!”_ before they were lost forever and he forced himself to awake. He shot up with a very sharp gasp that sounded as though he had been drowning and found the fallout ridden walls with deep, wild brown eyes.

Jack fell from the bed and hit the floor with a rather loud thud. He laid there pathetically and trembled with that same cold sweat, trying to desperately ignore the sirens from _that day_ that rang heavily in his ears as though he were still there. Jack waited for Callie to rush to his side and sooth him back to reality. But she never came. She was dead. He finally opened his eyes again, but released a poorly choked back sob before bringing himself to his hands and knees. “I-I’ve got to-“

He stumbled to his feet, trying not to look back at the empty, tattered bed in their old room while he dashed for the outside. It wasn’t until he finally reached the street that he felt like he could truly breathe again. Jack fell to his knees once more and his hands dragged briefly along the asphalt. He coughed and shuddered, finding some comfort in the fact that it was still the middle of the night when those settlers he saved in Concord were asleep and wouldn’t see him like this. He forced himself to look around, to see that Sanctuary was as much of a wasteland as everything else. And to see that Shaun and Callie weren’t here anymore. That this was his reality and he had _lost_. Jack looked down at the palms of his hands that bled and pulsed lightly from slight road rash. He nearly flinched and drew his hands close to him again when he caught sight of Mama Murphy’s silhouette in the lantern light. She watched him with compassionate pity. The sirens in his ears began to calm slowly and so did he, though he still said to her breathlessly, “M-Mama Murphy I… I’m sorry I-“

“It’s all right, kid. Those dreams’ll get better.”

He took in a few more sharp breaths before clearing his throat and said with a crack in his tone, _“Are you sure?”_

The worn fortune teller’s frown curved more so at the suffering man before her. She turned to retreat back to the first good night sleep she would have in weeks and eagerly awaited, but stopped in the frame of where a door used to be. Mama Murphy knew the poor kid’s nightmares bled deeper than the ocean. It broke her heart knowing this was only his first night out of that ice box. After all Jack had been through, she owed him the mere simplicity of a peace of mind.

“… I promise.”


End file.
